04.28.04

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Posted in Uncategorized at 12:44 pm by Anne

The 65th wedding anniversary went great and I just got some film back, and now these people are going to LOVE me. Some of them really turned out perfect. I love when that happens! It’s a tricky and magical combination of good lighting, appropriate film, and the people do just what they should. No yawing, or blinking, or the ever obnoxious ‘catching someone as they are in the process of changing positions’. And the party was fun too. Great wedding cake and chocolate covered strawberries. Lily was WILD over the berries. She ate entirely too many and was blessed with the nastiest diapers this side of the Pecos for a few days following.

Strangely enough, I have some unusual (for me, that is) thyroid activity. The Dr drew blood a second time and determined I am not making enough H2 or H3, which is causing my pituitary gland to overproduce TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) to try and compensate. This means I am early in the stages of hypothyroidism, a milder autoimmune disorder then say, lupus or hiv. I really hope it is just pregnancy induced and that it will go away following delivery. Hell, I am pretty healthy. I eat right (despite what the blog may say), exercise, and at a very appropriate weight. so wtf?

Tomorrow we are taking Lily in to get her very first official haircut. I am going to bring a camera and irritate the hell out of everybody involved and after she is done I will get all my hair cut off. Or maybe just some of it. The point is, we will have new haircuts, so yippee!

I have to put in this weird Lily story. Today as I was acclimating her to the notion of staying in the playroom while I worked out at the gym, Lily all of a sudden stood up and started crying. This was right after a woman who didn’t remotely look like me had walked past with her two kids and was leaving the playroom. Okay, the only similarity between me and this woman is that she too had a ponytail. Anyway, Lily scrabbled after her, pitifully while the other women looked at me incredulously. I was pretty surprised myself. Anyway, I called out to her, and she turned around with big tears in her eyes, and tripped back over to me with outstretched arms. That child. Who knows what she was thinking? I suspect she just thought I was trying to sneak out again. HAH.

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04.24.04

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Posted in Uncategorized at 11:27 am by Anne

I just learned this morning, much to my immense disappointment, that the local Krispy Kreme ’s will no longer offer a *free* glazed doughnut. What gives?!
Cheap b$st*rds.
Not that I have even eaten one in the last year, but it was just comforting to know that if I wanted to get a box of those lucious glazed rounds of sweet pastry goodness, that the first one would be free of charge.
What is this world coming to I ask?

Lily still cannot say ‘Yes’ to questions but she does somthing else that wirks as well. If she means ‘yes’ then she claps her hands. ie “Lily, would you like some chocolate milk?” she smiles and claps her hands. The toddler-adult communication thing is just awesome.

And for the 65th party today, in addition to my camera and video recorder, I am bringing a platter of chocolate walnut cupcakes. They are very similar to individual brownies and to top them off I am going to use my very handy whipped cream nitrogen dispenser to make a little swirl of the purest and most delectable white on top. Fresh whipping cream. You can’t beat that with spoon.

Meanwhile, I am in the middle of another pregnancy-induced hormonal irritation drama. yippeee! Basically, everything and everyone pisses me off. Yay me!

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04.22.04

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Posted in Uncategorized at 12:07 pm by Anne

Lily has a few exasperating habits. One of them popped up again this morning during breakfast. She had mostly polished off an entire banana and was plowing through squares of wheat toast smeared with peanut butter when I guess she decided she was done eating and started picking up what was left and pressing it into her hair. By the time I stopped her from doing even more damage (we had to go to the gym earliy this morning), there was a huge glop of banana and peanut butter pressed onto the top of her head. A good mom would have given her a bath but I pulled the mess back into a ponytail and we went to the gym anyway.

Another kind of weird thing she does sometimes, is to slap her hands on her head…repeatedly. Maybe it is just to get a reaction out of me or to show that she can take control of her own destiny but it kind of weirds me out. Even worse, every so often she’ll walk over to a wall and head-butt it. Then afterwards, she’ll kind of clutch her head and look all hurt, all the while I am saying, “Oh, baby, that hurts! Don’t do that!” So I don’t know about this one.

Now she sleeps and I ahve to clean up and get ready to see her Grandma. We are going to Costco to get a few things for Shan’s greatgrandparents 65th wedding anniversary. You might remember a similar party a few months ago, but this is for the other set and I sense it is going to be an even larger shindig.

As per the dog-bunny eating. I forgot to mention how Shan woke up before me and was happily greeted by foul liquids all over the kitchen floor. Domesticated animals don’t really tolerate wild game and one can only assume it didn’t agree with her. I am just glad I didn’t have to clean it up, from what I heard, it was one nasty mess of upset dog stomach. gahhhhhh. So put that one in your pipe and smoke it.

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04.20.04

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Posted in Uncategorized at 10:04 pm by Anne

and to make bunny matters that much worse, while I was gathering onions from the garden, the dog started poking at something nearby by. Whatever it was reacted with a high-pitched ‘ee ee ee ee’ sound and when I walked over I saw it was another baby rabbit. So cute! Based on internet info, I guess the baby was 2-3 weeks old, since it was covered in fur and its little eyes were open. I chased the dog away and got on the internet to see what could be done for the poor little thing. Good site. Okay, so I put the dog in the house, grabbed my gardening gloves, and went back to the bunny. It was so sweet, very still, and allowed me to pick it up and put it back into it’s hole. Then, I packed all the fur and weeds back ontop and walked back to the house. I thought if we could just keep Darwin away from the garden that it would be just fine. A few hours later, everyone showed up for supper. Right before it was all ready, Shan poked his head in the kitchen and asked where Darwin was. “In the house. ” I answered but realized I hadn’t seen her in a while. I opened the back door and there she was, with bunny fur all over her muzzle. Heart breaking! Someone had let the dog back outside! I walked over to the bunny hole and it was completely demolished.

sigh.

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Posted in Uncategorized at 5:11 pm by Anne

My darling, decrepit, “old” dog of 8 years, is proudly trotting around the back fenceline…with a dead baby bunny clamped in her mouth. How to get her to a)use the toothbrush and b) to gargle afterwards is the trick towards maintaining a happy and healthy household.

Gross.

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Posted in Uncategorized at 3:37 pm by Anne

interesting read

and brief too.

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Posted in Uncategorized at 2:50 pm by Anne

Tuesday Family Dinner Menu

Beef Stroganoff with whole wheat egg noodles and spring onions from the garden

Salad (courtesy Shan’s parents) I imagine it will be a green salad with dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, and bleu cheese crumbles

French Bread (this time from the machine. Hey, I ran out of drive and dessert is in the oven!)

And for dessert:

Peach Cobbler with strips of cinnamony dough criss crossed on top

It’ll be so good you’ll want to slap your Momma.

This morning I vacuumed the whole house with Lily alternately crying and not, as she followed in close pursuit. Lately she has been a clingy baby, as if she senses a sea change in her future. Could she know deep down that another child is on the way? I seriously doubt it but soon enough she will be usurped, much like the dog was. I like to think we’ll do a much better job with inclusion though. The poor dog might be suffering from a mild depression. That, or she is just old. My poor old dog. She tolerates Lily patting her a little too hard or poking her in the face, like a champ. note to self: give dog some love

Cooked a big pot of beans last night for dinner but they weren’t so tasty as I had hoped. And this morning I awoke to a house reeking of onions. So we have candles lit all over the place, releasing a veritable potpourri into the air, and I cut some of this years first roses. 3 vases worth of flowers! You can’t beat being your own florist. Except, I have some minor aphid problems and I’ve never seen FTD or Proflowers release any kind of vermin. Bless them and their non-vermin-infested flowers.

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04.19.04

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Posted in Uncategorized at 5:41 pm by Anne

and if anyone is wondering what to get me for my birthday next month.

Here.

droool.

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Posted in Uncategorized at 5:02 pm by Anne

Baby survey ganked from Like a Baby

1. Color of baby’s eyes? At birth?

At birth they were a very dark blue and now they are a blend of blue and gray, difficult to describe but so lovely.

2. Color of hair? Lots/Little? How many (if any) haircuts?

Her hair is light blondish brown with hints of red. No haircuts yet, due to her father’s stubbornness, but all that is going to change pretty soon.

3. Favorite toy of the week?

She still likes one of my old purses, and a hideous little dolly she calls ‘BABY!’, but the family dog is probably her best toy

4. Tantrums? Yes/No and what are they like?

Still learning how to do a tantrum, it’s fun. She arches her back, throws her head behind her, and lays on the floor…sometimes screaming, often with tears in
her eyes, but they are pretty short. Especially short when I start laughing.

5. Newest word?

Bah-bah, which I like to think is my sister’s name, Barbara.

6. Favorite song/ TV show?

“If you are Lily and you know it, clap your hands” and “Day is Done” and “Johnny Appleseed”, basically any old Girl Scout campfire song. You name it, I know it.
As for tv, she’ll watch some of whatever is on, briefly, but leans a little on the positive side towards ‘Dragon Tales’
7. Favorite foods right now?

bread, cookies, cake, icecream

8. Shoe size? Clothing size?

I think she is size 4 babyshoe. I mainly buy her things geared to 18 month kids, but she can still fit some of her 12 month stuff

9. Any other new and exciting moments in the life of your toddler?

Every day is full of new and exciting moments and I am lucky to be around to witness them. It’s amazing to see her brain work as she figures things out or as she attempts new daredevil moves. Everyone thinks their baby is the smartest and the prettiest but I know this is true for Lily.

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Posted in Uncategorized at 12:27 pm by Anne

We spent a nice few nights out at the lakehouse with Shan’s parents. Before leaving Saturday morning, I washed a load of towels and put them in the dryer for his parents to fold later that day. It would have been in my best interests to have gone through the towel load, though, after noticing a pair of my drawers were missing. I thought they had just gotten tangled up with a pair of jeans in the previous load but I was wrong. And this morning Shan’s Dad called to let me know. Yeah, that’s pretty embarrassing. At least they were a fairly new pair. jeez.

Saturday afternoon we went to a brunch held by Shan’s sister’s parent’s in law. Is there an easier way to describe these people? Anyway, like last year, they invited us with Shan’s folks etc to celebrate Kris’ birthday, which was actually the week before. The food was good. I really enjoy brunches, in general. This one started out with a toast to Kris, and involved the best tasting champagne I have ever had the good furtune to come across. Le roi de something or other, it was lightly scented with peach essence…and made a very fine fuzzy navel-ish mimosa. Also on the menu

fruit salad: a little old with lightly oxidized strawberries, but still edible, tossed with grapes and fresh pineapple, cantalope, and honeydew melon. ( i suspect she bought it premade)

stuffed french toast: thinly sliced granny smith apples between cinnamon goodness and baked french toast

egg casserole: eggs and sausage and cheese amalgum, nice but could have used a little more cooking, it was a bit on the runny side

variety of rolls: cinnamon, plain, orange (not homemade but good)

sausage patties: if the meat is good, and it was here, this is one of my most foavorite things to eat. ever. my nephew feels the same way, i believe that is all he ate.

After brunch, the kids wanted to swim, and they happened to have an extra brandnew suit for miss Lily. And a waterproof diaper! So we dressed her up and Shan helped her into the hottub, as the pool was a brisk 68 degrees and it was windier than windy. While her cousins splashed about chaotically, Lily found her sealegs and really enjoyed walking around the cement seat. It wasn’t until she toddled over to the middle and floated haphazardly, with the sewn-in innertube holding her aloft, that she frowned. Shan would move her back to where she could get her footing and she just smiled. I could have killed someone because I had no 200 speed film. wah wah wah. In all, her first pool outing went really well.

I just heard an interesting book review. hmmmmmm.

And sometime this week I am going to get a severe haircut. I am sick to death of this do-nothing long hellishness. I want to be short and fancy free.

so there.

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